Question

https://addons.heroku.com/#search lists some pretty cool search plugins. I’m looking for something like this for my MVC project. I want it to be:

1. Fairly easy to implement
2. Accurate (good results)
3. Great API
4. Doesn’t need full text search just searching by title (must like S/O questions)

I’m also wondering if I should just use the Google search API as it seems to be incredible accurate. I’m curious what search system stack overflow.com uses?

Thanks

Answer 1

You are asking for an MVC solution, I will give you one.

Implement interface ISearchable

interface ISearchable{
    SearchResult Search(string query);
}

Implement class SearchResult

public class SearchResult{
    SearchResult(string title, string url, string description, int rank){
        this.Title = title;
        this.Url = url;
        this.Description = description;
        this.Rank = rank;
    }
    public string Title { get; set; }
    public string Url { get; set; }
    public string Description { get; set; }
    public int Rank { get; set; }
}

Make your ViewModel implement the ISearchable interface.

public class MyViewModel : ISearchable{
    public List<Article> Articles { get; set; }

    #region ISearchable
    public SearchResult Search(string query){
        string title = "";
        string url = "";
        string description = "";
        int rank = 0;
        // Custom logic to search for an article
        ...
        return new SearchResult(title, url, description, rank);
    }
    #endregion
}

Register the ISearchable ViewModels on Application_Start, for example with Unity.

Implement SearchController and have Action Query.

public ActionResult Query(SearchQueryModel model){
   model.Search();
   return View(model);
}

In model.Search(), do your search through the registered ViewModels that implement ISearchable interface, use Whatever Search API that suits you best. Or do NOT use an API.

The reality is, any search will serve you a moment, but when the time comes when it doesn’t serve you anymore, you can switch without breaking your implementation.

I know you asked for the “Best ASP.NET MVC Search solution”. I cannot pick any particular Product for you since I don’t know the internal workings of your solution, your budget etc.

But strictly from ASP.NET MVC perspective, the one that can be plugged into the above scenario, should be a good one. If it fits your bill, etc…